What is there a specific tool that is renown for cutting/cracking lobster shells? I usually use a shell cracker which is merely a nut cracker. Once I bought a "lobster shear" which broke in its third use (!). It looked REALLY cheaply made. At the place I work, we serve lobster in the shell, although we pre-crack the shell before cooking it. I think it would be easier for the customer if there were no shell at all but I cannot find any economical means to make that happen. ANy suggestions?

What is there a specific tool that is renown for cutting/cracking lobster shells? I usually use a shell cracker which is merely a nut cracker. Once I bought a "lobster shear" which broke in its third use (!). It looked REALLY cheaply made. At the place I work, we serve lobster in the shell, although we pre-crack the shell before cooking it. I think it would be easier for the customer if there were no shell at all but I cannot find any economical means to make that happen. ANy suggestions?

When having lobster at home, after steaming, I use a large chefs knife to split the lobster's body down the middle from head to the tip of the tail before it is brought to the table. That leaves only the claws which are hard to penetrate. A knife and fork will get into everything but the claws. I admit we're pigs and like 3 to 4 pound lobsters and pick into every appendage and eat everything that isn't chitin. It's a two plus hour orgy, and makes for a very long relaxing and conversational dinner. For the claws, I like to use a 3/4" Bucks wood chisel which I pound with the palm of my hand. A stable table and wooden plate/platter are necessary. As an alternative, a small hammer (when eating outdoors on the patio) has been used very effectively to crack the shell. Nut crackers are fine for smaller lobsters, but for the big ones, they don't cut it.

I think the lobster restaurant we go to in NYC uses a band saw to slit open the claws.

What is there a specific tool that is renown for cutting/cracking lobster shells? I usually use a shell cracker which is merely a nut cracker. Once I bought a "lobster shear" which broke in its third use (!). It looked REALLY cheaply made. At the place I work, we serve lobster in the shell, although we pre-crack the shell before cooking it. I think it would be easier for the customer if there were no shell at all but I cannot find any economical means to make that happen. ANy suggestions?

I work at a place that does whole lobster in the summers. we pull the shell off the claws and tail in the back after steaming. I've found the best thing is with just a heavy chefs knife and some practice.

We start by pulling/twisting off the tail. Then we split it from top to bottom. The meat can be easily pulled out, we leave it in the shell for presentation.

For the claws you start by putting a small notch on the edge about 1/8 to 1/4 or an inch from where the knuckle meets the claw. Sink the knife then give it a quick turn to open up a notch. Then lay it down and give a strike with the back of the knife on each side of the claw. With a little practice you'll get to the point where this creates a continuous crack running all the way around the claw. Next give the smaller pincher of the a little wiggle to loosen that meat. After that the shell can be coaxed off leaving the meat intact.

Lastly I give it a few more strikes from the back of the knife to crack the knuckles and the top of the body. It seems like a tredious process but with practice it only takes 20-30 seconds.

We also use frozen tails year round. for those we thaw them then split the top shell with kitchen shears. From there you squeeze the shell until you hear/feel the underside crack. Use a finger to loosen the meat from the sides of the shell then run two fingers along the underside of the meat while squeezing the shell laterally so you can pull the meat through the cut you made on top.

Most of the time we leave the meat attached at the fin end and lay the meat on top of the empty shell. It makes for a nice presentation (we cook the tail meat on the grill then serve still attached to the empty shell. The meat also cooks very quickly when separated like this.

I've worked in numerous kitchens.
My weapon of choice is a medium meat cleaver.
Once I used a brand new Henkels chef kinife and put a major dent in the edge right off the bat (They replaced it by the way!)

Here's my method for actually getting the meat out:
1 Grab the whole tail and snap if right off.
2 Now grab the fins as a "bunch" and snap them off the tail by sharply bending them backwards.
3 Stick your thumb right in the hole you just made where the fins came off. Push hard. Depending on how "packed" the meat is into the shell, this may require a wee bit of effort. But, it does always work. No cracking required.
4 Pull the "zipper" off the tail meat.
5 Clean the intestine and the roe out.
6 Snap off the claws atwhere they join the body.
7 Take the cleaver on a heavy cutting board or butcher block and whack the knuckle segments. I aim to hit the board and the shell at the same time, which sort-of prevents having to strike only the hard shell, which could be a mite dangerous as the cleaver could "skid" off.
8 Poke out the knuckle meat segments with back of a fork or wooden spoon handle, etc.
9 Lastly, for the claws, brake off the small claw segment, Hopefully it leaves the meat behind. for the body of the claw shell, again the meat cleaver comes out. Whack it at the top edge just enough to crack through then twist the cleaver blade so it extends the crack you have started. You can usually finish off splitting the shell open by hand. Extract the meat.
If I am using the meat for salad or other dish, I'll extract the "fin" inside the small segment of the claw.

For baked stuff we just split the underside of the body open with a chef knife and hand pressure. it's a bit gruesome, I admit...and I really don't do this anymore.

I've never done a presentation where shell was partially separated for the diner. Seems a bit odd. Half the fun of lobster is gettin' right into it!

Poultry shears cut through even the hardshells claws and they handle shedders (soft shell "chicken" lobsters) like a knife through butter. My only professional experience is as a stern man on a lobster boat in Maine, so we only got mostly smaller (legal) lobsters, rarely 4 pounders, but I always have poultry shears, a pick, a skinny fork and an ancillary pair of pliers at hand for eating them at home.